Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Suggestions and Feedback Combat AI is "too smart"

I really love the way combat mechanics have improved from OS1 to OS2, but there's 2 things that really bothers me about the AI. They're both related to each other but I find it appropriate to point them out seperatly.

[b]1. The AI knows everything. [/b]

The AI doesn't seem to be making any mistakes.
For example: [i]if I equip an amulet that prevents me from being shocked, it will never even TRY to shock me. It just knows I happen to be wearing this and will seek out other characters.[/i]
I'd expect some characters to be smart enough to think about this, but not a bug or a zombie.
The problem with this is that it limits my options.
Which character am I going to put this on?
Id' like to put it on my fighter, but by doing that, all of my enemy's shock spells will immediatly target other targets sometimes causing them to remain stunned for big chuncks of the fight.
Right now it'd only be useful to use it as a means to remove shock agro from a person.
It's a minor annoyance, but it ties into point 2


[b]2. The AI doesn't roleplay[/b] ( it has no character )

Though there's a great variety in the types of creatures I can fight, the only thing that really seperates the encounters are stats and skills. The mastermind controlling these groups is always the same person be it a pack of dogs or band of assassins.

Take the encounter with the dogs in Fort Joy for example. [i]Though it's great that I can "dispatch" of them without violence, if I do end up in a fight I kind of expect these dogs to charge at me or surround a single target. The last thing I'd suspect is that Bruno(the dog) is smart enough to not fire poison arrows at my undead party member. [/i]

When I fight guests at an inn, and kill them with ease, I'd love for some of them to lose morale and to try and flee. Not that they fight to the death over a sometimes trivial matter like an insult.

Like a group of spiders could try and seperate party members in order to incapacitate and capture them.
or
When the Red Prince insults people and starts a fight, for that entire fight every enemy will only target the Red Prince.
or
When you attack civilians, some of them will try and run away from you and cower. Perhaps not even attack at all.

[b]Concluding[/b]

I've had a look a the game master mode, and I see things like "Berseker AI, Ranger AI" and all that stuff. But perhaps not only do these characters need a "tactic" during a fight. They'd be more interesting if they have a goal in mind when fighting. Or better yet, have the AI set up to follow a plan when fighting. Say that character stats and skills should compliment their party's strategy and goals.

As I'm typing this I do realise that this is easier said than done. Especially with a 6 action point limit on characters. [u]But I'm trying to convey that I feel that there's a lack of personality to the combat that kind of makes all encounters feel very similar.
[/u]

Sorry for the long post, I tend to elaborate too much when trying to point out something.

.. also why is my markup gone when I editted my post to add 1 extra sentence?

The markup is disabled on new accounts because of spammers. Post 10 times or ask in this thread to get it enabled.


Some players might be rabidly against anything that would be considered "dumbing down" the AI, but I agree - I think it's more fun to play against an AI that seems smart than one which is just blatantly cheating.

I'm using a mod that reduces the enemy's Loremaster according to whether the type should actually be that knowledgeable (basically everything the game has 5 Loremaster, minus a few minor enemies). I also run Stench on my squishies. The game is far more fluid now, and far less 'delete the squishies no matter the cost'.

Mind you, my Glass Cannon still gets permanently stunned when the enemies get the chance, but I'm running Chameleon/Smoke Cover/Uncanny Evasion on him, so he has ways around it.

Smart AI? Try to use spell that gives u 90% dodge on some partymember And u'll see

This is a really interesting post. I love the new AI, but i would also love to have a fight with an overpowered beast that's doing very stupid things in combat. Or having enemies fleeing from combat

Sometimes AI makes ridiculous mistakes, like trying to run through character with Opportubist talent with no chances to survive a hit on Tactitian mode.
Sometimes they use fire on poison/oil surfaces to damage player without caring if it will kill them as well.

Yes, what annoys me the most isn't the AI doing things like auto not hitting your stun immune guy, or always going for the kill because they can see hp bars. It's things like animals not acting like them in combat, and the like. Make animals fight using numbers and brawn, people with smarts and tactics, making things fight differently can add a huge amount of variety in the game. Having a single mastermind is at best lazy and at worst incredibly boring.

There is a distinct lack of character to enemy AI most of the time, and them being practically psychic and wantonly abusing your invisible weaknesses (healbombing disguised/masked undead, CC chaining glass cannons, never attacking you with your immunities; all without ever seeing an indication of these things) is incredibly disappointing after how much the AI was lauded as being improved.

It's also my main problem with the AI, because they are mostly to smart and also pretty much the same in behaviour.

Sadly enough, it's pretty much 2-ways. The armor system makes it so we generally don't do risks either and have similar combats all the time. Damage, cc, repeat.

But yeah, it's kinda silly to have Fane keep getting healed by enemies first round, although they are very bad in detection opportunist.

I do think adding character to enemies would add a lot to the game. Combat feels mechanic enough already with 0% CC / 100% CC to have mechanic enemies too.

those look like valid concerns, but i think having 'omniscient' AI makes fight more predictable, in a good-ish way. otherwise there would also have to be learning mechanics, like if the AI hits you with fire and you shrug it off, it should learn that you are resistant, but then again how can it tell that your character wasn't harmed? what if your character is very good at faking pain? it quickly gets very opaque and unmanageable.